Telephone numbers are a critical and limited resource. In the past, almost every new telephone service subscriber received a “clean” never-before-assigned telephone number. However, as the demand for telephone numbers has increased, the incidence of numbers that have been previously assigned has also increased. The increase in cellular networks, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), and telephone service subscribers generally has led to increased demand for telephone numbers. To continue to meet the demand for new telephone numbers for new subscribers, given the limited number of telephone numbers available, service providers recycle previously-assigned telephone numbers (i.e., a service provider will issue to a new subscriber a telephone number that was previously used by a former subscriber). However, this recycled telephone number is stored and/or remembered by others as still associated with the former subscriber. For example, many individuals, corporations, and other entitles increasingly use electronically-stored contact databases that store the names of people and related contact information, including telephone numbers, on computers, smart telephones, or other communications equipment and devices.
The increased recycling of telephone numbers and the increased use of electronic contact databases has led to an increase in “stale numbers.” A stale number is a telephone number that, although it corresponds to a name of a person in a contact database, no longer corresponds to that person in actuality (e.g., the person has a new telephone number, and cannot be reached at the old telephone number), but rather now belongs to another person.
Stale numbers can lead to a number of problems. For example, a new subscriber to a telephone service provider may receive a recycled number (e.g., a service provider will issue to a new subscriber a telephone number that was recently used by a former subscriber). Because the new subscriber has a telephone number that was recently used by the former subscriber, it is likely that the telephone number is a stale number in the contact databases containing contact information for the former subscriber. The new subscriber may receive stale number (i.e., wrong number) calls, which can be disruptive and undesirable to the new subscriber. Similarly, those trying unsuccessfully to contact the former subscriber are inconvenienced. In another example, a company's customer contact database may have stale numbers because customers change telephone numbers and neglect to inform the company. This failure to inform may cause the company to inadvertently provide private information to someone other than the customer. For example, some financial institutions allow customers to register telephone numbers at which they can receive text or voice messages alerting them to their account balance or other sensitive information. If the financial institution has a stale number stored for a customer, that customer's private information may be revealed to a third party.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus to detect a stale number.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.